Terry LaVerne Stafford (November 22, 1941 – March 17, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 US Top 10 hit "

Suspicion Suspicion is a feeling of mistrust. Suspicion(s), The Suspicion, or Suspicious may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Suspicion'' (1918 film), an American silent film directed by John M. Stahl * ''Suspicion'' (1941 film), an American ...

", and the 1973

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

hit " Amarillo by Morning". Stafford was also known for his

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

sound-alike voice.

Early life

Born in Hollis, Oklahoma, he moved to Amarillo with his family at age seven, graduating from

Palo Duro High School Palo Duro High School is a school located in the city of Amarillo, Texas, United States, and is one of four high schools in the Amarillo Independent School District. As of the 2016–17 school year, it has 2,075 students. The school was named afte ...

in 1960, and starring in basketball and football. After a stint singing with a local rockabilly group, he moved to California to pursue a musical career.

Music career

Originally cut as a demo, Stafford's version of the Elvis Presley song "

" was released on the Crusader record label and made it to no. 3 in the U.S. and no. 31 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Suspicion" had the distinction of being sixth on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on April 4, 1964 when

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

held the top five spots. The following week, "Suspicion" peaked at no. 3, with the Beatles holding three of the top five spots. Stafford's recording sold over 1 million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. His follow-up "I’ll Touch a Star" rose to number 25 in United States. Both recordings were produced by Bob Summers (brother-in-law of

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

), who played all the instruments on the tracks as well as engineering and recording them, except for bass which was played by Ron Griffith. Summers released his own version in the 1970s, as well as a remake with Ed Greenwald on vocals in 2008. In 1969,

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for the Buckaroos, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 ...

re-wrote Stafford's "Big in Dallas", recording it as "

Big in Vegas "Big in Vegas" is a single by American country music artist Buck Owens. Released in October 1969, it was the first single from his album ''Big in Vegas''. The song peaked at number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached n ...

". Owens' version peaked at no. 5 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. and reached No. 1 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. Stafford continued to record, but had no more hits. His 1973 release/joint composition " Amarillo by Morning" was covered by

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

on Strait's 1982 album '' Strait from the Heart''. The song was named "#12 country song of all-time" by

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

. Stafford lived most of his life between Los Angeles and Amarillo, Texas, and he died in Amarillo of liver failure at the age of 54. He is interred with his parents at Llano Cemetery in Amarillo. There is a record of Nancy E. Hall marrying Terry L. Stafford on 20 May 1972 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Death

Stafford died on March 17, 1996, after a lengthy illness.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Story by Amarillo DJ and Stafford friend Dick Shuey

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Terry 1941 births 1996 deaths People from Hollis, Oklahoma Palo Duro High School alumni Atlantic Records artists American country singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma American country rock singers Musicians from Amarillo, Texas Musicians from Los Angeles Country musicians from Texas Deaths from liver failure 20th-century American singers Burials in Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Singer-songwriters from California Country musicians from California Country musicians from Oklahoma